Instead, she lowered her gaze, took his hand other from her waist, and guided it to her belly.
Phei went still.
Her stomach was warm beneath his palm:
Soft.
Alive with a truth too delicate for his usual arrogance.
Their child rested there in hidden silence, too small to speak, too small to move in a way he could feel, yet powerful enough to change the weight of his whole hand although he didn't have a clue to the life they created. Melissa covered his fingers with both of hers and held him there, her expression glowing with something deeper than happiness.
Something scarred by the past, blessed by the present, and terrified of hoping too loudly for a peaceful future and a better world for their child.
"You already gave me the best gift I could ever ask for," she whispered.
The words entered him without resistance.
